Tent smoke venting and ventilating arrangement



y 1965 J. D. PETRIE 3,181,543

TENT SMOKE VENTING AND VENTILA'I'ING ARRANGEMENT Filed May 15, 1965 INVENTOR JOHN D. PE TRIE BY-jme ATTORNEYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 4, 1965 J. D. PETRIE Q 3,181,543

TENT SMOKE VENTING AND VENTILATING ARRANGEMENT Filed May 15. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a 1 x134: 'v

INVENTOR JOHN D. PETRIE United States Patent 3,181,543 TENT SMOKE VENTING AND VENTILATING AGEMENT John D. Petrie, 3641 9th St. SW., Ealgary, Alberta, Canada Filed May 13, 1%3, Ser. No. 279,977 Claims priority, application Canada, Get. It}, 1962, 859,848, Patent 672,586 6' Claims. (Cl. 135-44) This invention relates to tents and more particularly to a movable smoke venting and ventilating hood for teepees or peaked tents having an open top connected to a tent supporting pole extending through the open top by a series of ropes for the support of the tent.

In order to provide warmth for the occupants under varying weather conditions and in order to provide cooking facilities, it is generally desirable and often necessary to maintain a fire within the interior of a tent. However, the use of such a fire necessarily leads to the problem of smoke removal and ventilation and, although attempts have been made to provide suitable smoke venting arrangements in tents, these attempts have proved unsatisfactory.

One example of an attempt to provide suitable ventilating facilities in tents is disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,428,343 issued September 5, 1922 to Runcie. Runcie discloses the usual form of peaked tent, open at the top and provided with a centre pole for the support of the tent walls. The centre pole extends through the opening at the top and is provided with an umbrella shaped shield which covers the top opening and is slidably mounted on a rod projecting from the top of the centre pole such that the umbrella-shaped shield is adjustable in a vertical direction. This vertical adjustment is designed to vary the circulation of air through the top opening. Although such a construction may have limited ventilating properties in that circulation of air is produced by a downdraft on one side of the tent and an updraft on the other to provide a gradual exchange of air in the tent, highly unsatisfactory results are obtained when an open fire is attempted, because smoke as well as air is circulated throughout the tent.

In order to provide suitable smoke Venting properties a continuous updraft to the apex of the tent is required, that is, air should be drawn from the inevitable open spaces around the base of the tent up to the peak of the tent and out the ventilating opening at the peak of the tent so that smoke will be drawn continuously upwards and will not be circulated throughout the tent as often results when known systems for tent ventilation are employed.

I have found that the deficiencies of known smok venting and ventilating devices may be overcome and desirable results obtained by providing, in or for a peaked tent having an open top and a tent supporting pole extending through the open top, a smoke venting and ventilating hood adapted to be pivotally mounted on the tent supporting pole for rotation about a substantially vertical axis and to substantially cover said open top, and a horizontally narrow vertically disposed opening in said hood to permit a communication between the interior and exterior of said tent. The hood is also provided with means to cover the horizontal projection of the opening to prevent the entry of rain or the like therethrough. Such a construction permits the opening in the hood to be situated on the lee side of the tent such that slight vacuum will be set up at the opening whereby to draw air and smoke from the interior of the tent to the exterior and, should the wind change direction, the hood may be easily rotated to again situate the opening on the lee side or" the tent. When ventilation is required the opening may be 3,ldl,543 Patented May 4, 1965 situated on the windward side of the tent and the hood will act as an air scoop to provide downdraft ventilation.

In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention,

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of a peaked tent provided with a hood according to the invention,

FIGURE 2 is a schematic view of the top portion of the peaked tent and hood,

FIGURE 3 is a pictorial view of an assembled hood frame according to the invention,

FIGURE 4 is a pictorial view showing details of one form of connection for two frame members,

FIGURE 5 is a pictorial view showing another form of connection for two frame members,

FIGURE 6 is an elevation partly in section showing the pivotal mounting of the hood on the tent supporting pole, and

FIGURE 7 is an elevation of the frame structure of another embodiment of the hood frame.

In FIGURE 1 of the drawings, smoke venting and ventilating hood 1 is shown rotatably mounted at the top of a peaked tent 2. Attached to the lower edge of the hood is a tie and swivel line 3 which is used to anchor the hood in a fixed position and to rotate the hood when this is required. The hood may be secured in any position by attaching line 3 to a suitable anchor peg 4.

In FIGURE 2 the upper portion of the tent is shown as being provided with an open top 5 which may be in the order of three feet in diameter, with the tent material surrounding said open top being provided with a number of equally spaced grommets 6. Extending through the open top, and substantially centrally thereof, is a tent supporting pole 7 carrying a metal peak cap 3 having a downwardly and outwardly extending flange It) with an annular row of equally spaced holes 11 therein corresponding in number to the grommets 6. The tent material is supported by the support pole 7 through supporting cords 12, of which two only are shown in FIGURE 2. Each supporting cord 12 is attached to the tent material at one end through a grommet and to the peak cap at its :other end through a corresponding hole in flange 19.

Situated above the peak cap in FIGURE 2 is the surface outline of the smoke venting hool 1 which has a circular conical surface In with an open sector therein forming an opening 13. This opening will preferably be of triangular shape. An opening covering member or hood having a circular conical surface Ib is mounted on the surface Ia with its apex coincident with the apex of the surface 1a at 14. The surface of cover 1b is open over a sector defined by elements 15 and I6 which sector is coincident with opening 13. The cover may be an extension of the same piece of material as surface Ia or it may be a separate piece of material connected to surface Ia along elements 15 and 16 by any suitable means. The hood surface may be formed of any suitable flexible material which is preferably fireproof and waterproof, and in particular may be made of the same material as the body of the tent. The hood material is provided, about the perimeter of the base of surface Ia and about the perimeter of the base of surface 1b, with hems 46 and 47 reipectively which terminate in open ends adjacent opening Although the surface outline of the smoke venting hood in FIGURE 2 is shown completely above the tent, the perimeter of the base of surface 1a of the hood, when it is mounted in operating position, will preferably be located at the broken line a to overlap the tent material surrounding said open top.

In order to support the flexible material forming the surface of the hoodin the configuration illustrated in FIGURE 2, the frame structure depicted in FIGURE 3 is provided and will now be described. The frame struca are seated in pockets 22 of spiral shaped metal junction plates 21a and 21b. A normally straight strip of spring steel 23a is held in a substantially circular arc in a horizontal plane'with one of its ends mounted on junction plate 21a and the other end mounted on junction plate 21b. A similar strip of spring steel 23b is held in a substantially circular arc in asubstantially vertical plane in the same manner.

One end of strip 23b is retained in junction plate 21a as depicted in FIGURE 4 and the other end of strip 23b 7 is retained in junction plate 21b as depicted in FIGURE 5.

As is shown in FIGURE 4, junction plate 21a is provided with a large end lug 24 and smaller side lugs 25 adapted to I receive and retain one end of strip 23b. The lugs 24 and 25 may be punched from-junction plate 21m or formed in any other suitable manner. The other end of the strip 23b as shown in FIGURE is provided with slots 26 and junction plate 21b is provided with a hook 27 and lugs 30 to receive and retain strip 23b. It will be seen from this construction that the one end of the strip of spring steel 23b may be inserted under and retained by the lugs 24 and 25 on junction plate 21a and that the spring steel frame member 231) can then be bent into a substantially circular arc with the other end being inserted under lugs 30 and over hook 27 to be retained on junction plate 21b. The size of the circular arc may be varied by placing different slots 26 over' the hook 27.

The strip of spring steel 23a and its mounting on junction plates 21m and 21b are exactly the same as the strip 23b and its mounting and need not be shown.

The spiral shaped junction plates 21a and 21b are spaced from the pivoting cap 19 by means of telescoping rods 20a and 29b as shown in FIGURE 3. The lower ends of the telescoping rods 20a and 2011 are of rectangular cross-section and fit into a pocket 22 formed in any suitable manner on the surfaces of junction plates 21a and 21b. The upper end of the rods are received by tubular sockets 18 fixedly secured to and depending from the pivoting cap 19 as seen more particularly in FIGURE 6.

The telescoping feature of the rods 20a and Zlbis conventional in nature asis the ratchet locking'mechanism which merely permits the locking of the rods in a variety of extended positions.

The mounting of the pivoting cap 19 on the tent supporting pole 7 is illustrated in FIGURE 6. The tent supporting pole 7 is shown as being hollow and having flanged plugs 31 with centrally disposed apertures 32 fixedly secured therein. Peak cap 8 is rigidly mounted on the top of the pole 7 and has a centrally disposed aperture 33 therein for the receipt of pivot pin 34 which extends downwardly from, and is fixedly secured to, pivoting cap 19. The pivot pin 34 is of hollow construction and is freely rotatable in the apertures 32 of the flanged 'plugs .31 and the aperture 33 of the peak cap 8. The

pivot pin 34 is held against excessive longitudinal movement by the shoulder 35 and spring biased ratchet locks 36, 36. The ratchet locks 36 are pivotally mounted within the hollow pivot pin on axles 4t) and have shoulder portions 41 extending through slots 42 in opposite sides of the pivot pin 34. Wardly of the central axis of the pivot pin by compression spring 42a and are retained in position with their shoulder portions 41 projecting from the outer surface of the pivot pin by axles 40 at one end of the ratchet locks and depending ears 43 at the other end of the ratchet locks, which ears engage the inner surface of the pivot pin above the top end of the slot 42. It will be seen, from this constructicn, that the pivoting cap 19 is prevented from The ratchet locks 36 are forced out-' 4- vertical movement in a downward direction by the shoulder 35 acting on the top of the peak cap 8 and from movement upwardly by the action of shoulders 41 on the under-surface of the peak cap 8 although the pivoting cap is freely rotatable about the longitudinal vertical axis of the tent supporting pole 7.

According to the invention, the pivoting cap 19 is permanently secured to the material of the hood at 14 and the spiral shaped junction plates 21a and 21b are permanently secured to the material of the hood at the junction of the perimeters of the bases of surfaces 1a and 1b and the elements and 16 designated as 44 and 45 respectively as shown in FIGURE 2. The strips 23a and 23b and the telescoping rods a and 29b are entirely separate and are not permanently affixed to the material in any way.

In order to erect the tent with the hood mounted at the peak, the top portion of the tent supporting pole is placed through open top 5 of the tent 2 and the supporting cords 12 are secured at one end at the grommets 6and at the other end at the holes 11 in flange 10 of peak cap 8. The material of the hood 1 is then taken up and the spring steel members 23a and 23b are passed through hems 46 and 47 and the ends are then secured to spiral shaped metal junction plates 21a and 21b as previously described. At this stage, the telescoping rods 20a and 2% are inserted sockets 18 on pivot cap 17 and into pockets 22 in metal junction plates 21a and 21b in the retracted position. The telescoping rods are then extended until the hood takes the configuration as shown in FIGURE 2 about the erected metal framework depicted in FIGURE 3. The ventilating hood is then mounted on the top of the pole '7 by forcing the pivot pin 34 and spring biased ratchet locks through the opening '33 in peak cap 8. With the smoke venting hood so assembled and mounted, the remainder of the tent is erected in a conventional manner.

When it is desired to vent smoke the hood 1 may be pivoted by means of tie and swivel line 3 about the longitudinal vertical axis of supporting pole 7 so that the opening 13 is directed towards the lee side of the tent. Any wind will then create a slight vacuum at the mouth of the opening and smoke and air will be continuously drawn upward and expelled from the interior of the tent through outlet 13. This air will be replaced by air entering through inevitable open spaces found about the base of any tent. t

In practice it is preferable that, there be a suitable gap between the material about the perimeter of the base of surface 1a of the hood and the material of the tent surrounding the open top in the vicinity of the area of overlap of these materials. Such a gap will permit air to run up the outersurface of the tent on the windward side, through the gap and out of the outlet 13 in a continuous stream and will assist in the upward movement of air in the interior of the tent.

When the hood is to be used for ventilating purposes the opening 13 is turned, by means of tie and swivel line 3, to the winwward side of the tent and is secured by line 3 and an anchor peg 4 in this position. The opening then acts as an air scoop to provide downdraft ventilation for the tent.

Although the hood is described above as being manually rotatable, the pivoted mounting of the hood on the tent pole and the provision of a suitable gap between the material of the hood and the material surrounding the open top of the tent at the area of overlap permits the selfrotation of thehood with changes in wind direction; The shape of the hood will cause it to be forced into a posi tion with its back to the wind when the wind direction shifts with the result that the hood may be left unattended for long periods of timetwithout the danger of a shift in wind'direction causing rain or snow to enter the interior of the tent through the opening in the hood.

FIGURE 7 discloses an additional embodiment of the invention which is substantially the same as the previous embodiment with the exception that an added bracing rod 50 extends from the peak of frame member 2312 over the pivoting cap 19 to the rear extremity of frame member 23a. The bracing rod 50 is a normally straight strip of spring steel having slots at one end thereof in the same manner as strips 23:: and 23b as shown in FIGURE 5. The bracing rod 50 passes through a hollow hem (not shown) in the material of the smoke venting hood, and the pivoting cap may be provided with a longitudinal groove to receive and help retain the bracing rod 50 in the position shown in FIGURE 7, although such a groove is not shown in the drawing. The hem will be open at the junctions of the rod 59 and strips 23a and 23b, and hems 46 and 47 must also be open at these junctions. The top, or slotted end, of bracing rod 50 is secured to strip 23b by means of a connector 51 which releasably grips strip 231) with its bifurcated end portion 52 and which is connected to bracing rod 50 in the manner as shown in FIGURE 5 which need not be further described. The lower or unslotted end of the bracing rod St} is secured to strip 23a by means of a connector 53 which releasably grips strip 23a with bifurcated end portion 54 and which retains bracing rod 50 in a tubular socket 55.

The embodiment of FIGURE 7 is assembled in the same manner as the previously disclosed embodiment with the exception that the final stage of assembly of the smoke venting hood is the addition of the bracing rod 50 to provide greater rigidity to the structure. The bracing rod is passed through a hem in the material of the smoke venting hood and is then inserted in socket 55 of connector 53 and next secured as its slotted end to connector 52.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In or for a peaked tent having an open top and a tent supporting pole extending through said open top, a circular conical hood adapted to be pivotally mounted on said tent supporting pole for rotation about a substantially vertical axis and to cover said open top, a horizontally narrow, vertically disposed opening in said hood, said opening comprising a sector of the surface of said hood, and cover means overlying the horizontal projection of said opening to prevent the entry of rain or the like therethrough, said cover means having a substantially circular conical surface with its apex substantially coincident with the apex of said hood, the surface of said cover means having an open sector cor-responding to said opening and contiguous with said hood generally along elements defining sides of the open sec-tor such that said opening and said open sector are in coincidence to permit communication between the interior and exterior of said tent.

2. A hood as defined in claim 1, wherein said hood, about the perimeter of its base, overlies the tent material surrounding said open top.

3. A hood as defined in claim 1, wherein the surfaces of said hood and said cover means are composed of flexible material and are provided about the perimeters of their bases with hems, said heme terminating and being open adjacent said opening.

4. A hood as defined in claim 3, wherein the surfaces of said hood and said cover means are supported by a rigid collapsible frame, said frame comprising a mounting plate permanently secured to the material at the coincident apices, junction plates permanently secured to the material of the hood and the cover means adjacent their bases and at each side of said opening, resilient members extending through the items of said hood and said cover means, and releasably connected at one of their ends to one of the junction plates and at the other of their ends to the other junction plate to maintain the perimeters of the bases of said hood and said cover means substantially circular, and extensible rods releasably mounted in said mounting plate and extending to and releasably connected with each of said junction plates whereby to maintain said junction plates in spaced relation to said mounting plate.

5. A hood as defined in claim 4 wherein said mounting plate is provided with a downwardly extending pivot pin adapted to be mounted on said pole to pivotally support the hood thereon, and being provided with means for releasably locking the pin against excessive longitudinal movement when mounted on said tent supporting pole While permitting rotation of said pin about its longitudinal axis.

6. In or for a peaked tent having an open top and a tent supporting pole extending through said open top, a conical hood adapted to be pivotally mounted on said tent supporting pole for rotation about a substantially vertical axis whereby to cover said open top, a horizontally narrow, vertically disposed opening in said hood, and cover means overlying the horizontal projection of said opening to prevent the entry of rain or the like therethrough, said cover means having a substantially conical surface with its apex substantially coincident with the apex of said hood, the conical surface of said cover means having an open section of a size at least as great as the opening in said hood, and being united with said hood with said open section overlying said opening to permit communication between the interior and exterior of said tent.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,100,234 6/14 Ecker 98-68 1,428,343 9/22 Runcie 14 HARRISON R MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN OR FOR A PEAKED TENT HAVING AN OPEN TOP AND A TENT SUPPORTING POLE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID OPEN TOP, A CIRCULAR CONICAL HOOD ADAPTED TO BE PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID TENT SUPPORTING POLE FOR ROTATION ABOUT A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AXIS AND TO COVER SAID OPEN TOP, A HORIZONTALLY NARROW, VERTICALLY DISPOSED OPENING IN SAID HOOD, SAID OPENING COMPRISING A SECTOR OF THE SURFACE OF SAID HOOD, AND COVER MEANS OVERLYING THE HORIZONTAL PROJECTION OF SAID OPENING TO PREVENT THE ENTRY OF RAIN OR THE LIKE THERETHROUGH, SAID COVER MEANS HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCULAR CONICAL SURFACE WITH ITS APEX SUBSTANTIALLY COINCIDENT WITH THE APEX OF SAID HOOD, THE SURFACE OF SAID COVER MEANS HAVING AN OPEN SECTOR CODRRESPONDING TO SAID OPENING AND CONTIGUOUS WITH SAID HOOD GENERALLY ALONG ELEMENTS DEFINING SIDES OF THE OPEN SECTOR SUCH THAT SAID OPENING AND SAID OPEN SECTOR ARE IN COINCIDENCE TO PERMIT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR OF SAID TENT. 